Golliwogs

‘What is lurking behind the apparently innocent children’s book is in fact somethingvery intrusive, controlling, and often downright sinister.’Discuss this statement with reference to
either
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’sStone

or

Northern Lights.
Children’s Literature is a long debated topic and many questions have arisen that areyet to be answered. Children’s literature seems vary hard to define, the topics andthemes now used in texts classed for children are coming under increasing scrutiny-‘What is lurking behind the apparently innocent children’s book is in fact somethingvery intrusive, controlling, and often downright sinister.’ (Hunt, 2009, p.14) this wouldsuggest that authors have a power over their readers and use this power to exert controlover them. This essay will discuss how childhood is a social construction and the ideaof ‘childhood innocence’ could be an outdated notion. Within the global society thereare a range of cultural differences that determine how we view any literature, especiallyas being controlling or sinister this will also be explored. A key part of any discussionregarding books and their controlling power is the ideology of the author and how their views are imparted through their text. These ideas will be discussed with directreference to the text
Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone
by J K Rowling, the first book in the Harry Potter series that has become a global phenomenon. The books havefaced widespread criticism for containing pagan, sexist and racist themes that could beviewed as intrusive, controlling and sinister.An interesting starting point for this discussion is who decides what is and isn’t sinister,controlling and intrusive within children’s books. Culturally across the world peopleshare many differences in the way they lead their lives and the values and beliefs theyaspire to thus creating different points of view on what is appropriate for their children.An example of this is in the text
Harry...